Global lighting market is expected to be worth €100bn by 2020

According to management consultancy McKinsey, the global lighting market is set to be worth €100bn by 2020, compared with €73bn last year, reports leading domestic lighting retailer Ryness Lighting and Electrical (http://www.ryness.co.uk/).

The lighting industry is facing its largest shake-up since Edison and Swan’s invention of the incandescent lightbulb over 130 years ago. If the move to energy efficiency is behind this new lighting revolution then it is LED light bulbs that could be the reason for this predicted growth in the global lighting market.

Analysts believe that LED technology is entering a new age, especially for the commercial sector. The price of LED light bulbs are coming down which is shortening the payback time on the initial investment. McKinsey reports that LED will account for 41% of the overall value of the lighting market in 2016 and as much as 63% by 2020, compared to just 12% last year. The fact that LED light bulbs do not rely on traditional lighting manufacturing expertise, being that they are based on semiconductors, means that the market has opened up to LED chipmakers in Japan, the US and the UK.

One such company in the UK, IQE, manufacturers wafers made in semiconductor chips and their chief executive Drew Nelson, speaking to the Financial Times, said “I am absolutely certain that LEDs will become the world’s universal lighting source...LEDs will transform the way we use lighting as they can be used to mimic the sun and create differing tones to suit certain locations and moods”.

In fact, such is the transformative power of LED light bulbs that NASA is testing their use as sleep aids for astronauts in space. The bulbs will shift from blue to red via an intermediate white stage which will help stimulate the typical day and night cycle to attempt to minimise the disruption of the astronaut’s natural circadian rhythm and reduce insomnia.

It seems that the effects of LED technology could be seen not only on global financial markets but even outside the earth’s atmosphere, the sign of a true lighting revolution.

To purchase the best in LED lighting and more in the UK, visit the home of domestic and commercial lighting, Ryness Lighting and Electrical (http://www.ryness.co.uk).